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ESTABLISHING  DEPOTS.  231 

floe  was  covered  with  a  light  covering  of  snow,  just  deep  enough 
to  require  the  men  to  plough  their  way  and  to  demand  every 
atom  of  their  strength  to  pull  the  sledge  through  it.  Occasion 
ally  a  bare  descending  bit  of  ice  came,  just  enough  in  extent  to 
force  the  exhausted  men  for  a  few  yards  into  an  accelerated 
pace  and  give  emphasis  to  the  jerk  which,  as  snow  came  to 
clog  the  runners,  a  moment  later  brought  all  up  standing.  After 
nearly  nine  hours  of  such  travel,  Sergeant  Brainard  concluded 
that  the  condition  of  the  men  was  such  as  to  render  camping 
necessary,  as  continued  pulling  without  food  or  drink  in  such 
low  temperatures  had  quite  exhausted  them.  The  temperature, 
then  at  -43.5°  (-41.9°  C.),  had  not  been  above  -40°  (-40° 
C.)  during  the  march. 

An  order  to  camp  is  obeyed  with  alacrity,  not  that  it  is  a 
comfortable  or  pleasant  thing  to  do,  but  because  work  of  any 
character  is  preferable  to  standing  quietly  around.  The  only 
continued  comfort  for  an  Arctic  sledger  is  while  he  is  engaged 
in  the  drag-ropes  hauling  a  fair  load  at  a  moderate  pace  over  a 
level  bit  of  ice. 

With  skilled  hands  the  sledge  is  rapidly  unlashed,  and  while 
the  main  party  sets  up  the  tent  the  evening  cook  is  searching 
out  a  blue-topped  berg,  from  which  to  get  his  ice  for  tea  and 
stew.  The  tent  is  well  pitched  on  a  proper  site,  which  prefera 
bly  is  a  level  snow-covered  bit  of  floe,  with  a  large  berg  near  to 
the  windward  to  break  the  force  of  any  sudden  gale.  If  snow 
cannot  be  found  suited  for  the  site  of  the  tent,  it  is  best  that 
snow  be  brought  and  strewed  within  it.  This  not  only  gives  a 
soft  bed,  but  a  comparatively  warm  one,  for  ice  is  almost  invari 
ably  colder  than  snow. 

The  rubber  tent-cloth  spread,  the  sleeping-bags  are  brought 
in  and  laid  down,  but  to  unroll  them  is  a  labor  of  love  demand 
ing  the  strength  of  a  Hercules.  The  moisture  which  exhaled 


232  THEEE   TEAES   OF  AECTIC   SEEVICE. 

the  night  before  from  the  body,  the  falling  spiculfe  of  snow 
formed  that  morning  in  the  tent,  the  lingering  vapor  from  the 
stew,  and  the  drops  of  spilled  tea  have  all  insidiously  worked 
their  way  deep  into  the  tangled  hair,  and,  turning  to  ice,  have 
bound  fast  the  tightly  rolled  buffalo  bags.  Now  they  are  more 
like  coils  of  rolled  sheet-iron  than  the  supple  well-tanned  skins 
they  are  supposed  to  be.  By  great  exertions  they  are  finally 
forced  apart,  and  the  wise  sledge  traveller,  be  his  wisdom  from 
book  or  experience,  seeks  them  at  the  earliest  moment. 

The  work  of  erecting  the  tent  and  opening  the  bags  has 
necessitated  the  use  of  the  bare  hands  in  a  measure,  and  han 
dling  these  articles,  colder  than  frozen  mercury,  is  like  handling 
hot  iron  which  burns  and  cracks  men's  fingers  and  hands.  The 
comparatively  light  work,  too,  has  checked  the  perspiration,  and 
with  stiffening  clothing  and  half -frozen  fingers  the  travellers, 
other  than  the  cook  and  commissary  sergeant,  sit  down  ;  and, 
carefully  brushing  the  snow  from  their  garments,  loosen  the 
lashings  and  take  off  overalls  and  foot-gear.  They  systematically 
arrange  these  in  the  shape  in  which  they  can  easiest  don  them, 
for  in  five  minutes  after  they  are  frozen  solid.  The  feet  are 
stripped  bare  and  a  pair  of  fresh  socks,  warm  from  the  man's 
breast,  are  put  on  and  covered  at  once  with  a  pair  of  large  dog 
skin  or  sheep-skin  sleeping-socks.  Crawling  into  their  bag 
their  chilled  limbs  gradually  thaw  out  the  frozen  skin,  and 
later  they  acquire  warmth  when  hot  tea  and  stew  come  to 
them. 

The  cook  meanwhile  has  obtained  his  ice,  both  for  morning 
and  evening  meal,  and  has  received  from  the  sergeant  the  care 
fully  measured  allowance  of  alcohol,  which  he  takes  with  a  dubi 
ous  shake  of  the  head,  as  he  sees  how  small  the  quantity  and 
how  much  work  it  is  expected  to  do.  His  ice  cut  too  coarsely 
or  mixed  with  too  much  snow,  and  the  wicks  half  an  inch  too 


ESTABLISHING   DEPOTS.  233 

high  or  too  low,  and  the  result  is  a  stew  mixed  with  ice,  or  tea 
just  steaming  and  uncooked. 

The  rations,  arranged  at  the  station,  are  served  out  with  the 
same  careful  exactness.  An  ounce  too  much  to-day  means 
shortage  to-morrow.  The  cooking  apparatus  carefully  placed 
level  on  a  board,  he  watches  it  with  the  utmost  caution,  for  the 
arrangement  is  such  that  carelessness,  or  perhaps  the  sudden 
movement  of  a  man  in  the  bag,  may  cause  a  pot  to  tip  and  the 
precious  allowance,  or  a  part  at  least,  to  be  lost.  An  hour  is  a 
moderate  time  in  which  to  cook  the  tea,  and  as  the  frozen, 
wretched  cook  watches  it  he  realizes  too  keenly  the  truth  of  the 
adage,  "  A  watched  pot  never  boils." 

If  he  has  inexperienced  comrades  they  sit  up  and  watch  with 
or  aid  him,  some  through  a  feeling  that  they  must  bear  a  hand, 
and  others  because  they  deem  it  unbefitting  soldiers  that  their 
meals  should  be  served  them  in  their  beds.  They  do  not  realize, 
until  taught  by  bitter  experience,  that  it  is  best  that  all  this 
hardship  and  suffering  should  be  avoided  by  all  save  the  cook, 
and  the  strength  of  the  party  thus  be  conserved. 

The  pot  finally  boils,  and  instantly  it  is  served  to  the  weary 
men ;  some  of  whom,  overcome  by  the  exhausting  labors  of  the 
day,  have  dropped  off  into  a  sleep,  and  are  doubtful  whether  to 
be  vexed  or  pleased  that  they  are  recalled  to  a  sense  of  cold  and 
weariness.  The  steaming  tea  and  stew  are  served,  the  clouds  of 
vapor  change  to  falling  snow;  the  weary  men,  refreshed  by  their 
meal,  crawl  down  in  their  bags,  to  be  followed  by  the  cook  as 
soon  as  he  can  arrange  his  lamp  and  pot  and  tie  up  the  tent 
securely. 

The  night,  or  rather  the  hours  set  for  sleep,  passes  slowly. 
Crowded  two  or  three  into  one  bag,  all  must  be  awakened  and 
turn  together  whenever  cramp  or  cold  renders  one  so  uncomfort 
able  that  he  must  change  his  position.  Stiffness,  aches,  rheu- 


234  THREE  TEAKS   OF   ARCTIC   SERVICE. 

matic  pains,  cold,  and  cramps  fall  to  every  one's  lot  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent.  Nobody  is  sorry,  save  the  cook,  when  the  officer 
calls  that  unfortunate  person,  whose  only  comfort  is  the  reflec 
tion  that  his  service  passes  with  that  meal,  as  the  cooking  is 
done  in  turn. 

In  the  morning  the  same  routine  is  gone  through  with,  modi 
fied  at  times  by  some  depraved  article  of  footgear,  which,  frozen 
into  metal-like  hardness,  will  not  be  coaxed  or  forced  on  to  the 
foot  until  it  has  been  taken  literally  to  one's  heart  and  thawed 
out  by  the  heat  of  the  body.  The  slowness  with  which  the 
party  breaks  camp  makes  everybody  wretched  and  ill-humored 
until  a  short  hour's  inarch  has  thawed  travelling  gear  and  hu 
man  nature  into  tractable  mood. 

With  the  temperature  75°  (  -40.7°  C.)  or  more  below  the 
freezing  point  of  water,  it  seems  to  me  surprising  even  now  that 
men  can  ever  do  and  endure  such  work  and  exposure.  Only 
those  of  perfect  health,  iron  constitution,  and  marked  deter 
mination  are  capable  of  continued  work  under  such  conditions. 
This  account  of  a  march  and  camp  is  a  fair  description  (under 
drawn  if  anything)  of  the  experiences  of  a  sledging  party  fa 
vored  by  fine  weather  and  ordinary  travel.  When  storm  and 
snow  come  to  blind,  wet,  and  buffet  the  wretched  travellers, 
their  miseries  cannot  be  described  in  words.  Such  conditions 
as  above  must  be  imagined  as  the  common  experience  of  all 
Arctic  travellers  until  zero  temperatures  (—17.8°  C.)  come  with 
May,  bringing  other  discomforts  not  much  less  serious. 

On  the  morning  of  March  16th,  the  temperature,  which  had 
fallen  during  the  night  to  -44°  (-42.2°  C.),had  risen  to  -40° 
(—40°  C.),  but  a  brisk  northeast  wind  rendered  travel  danger 
ous.  At  9  A.M.,  however,  the  wind  subsided  somewhat,  and 
Sergeant  Brainard  decided  to  start.  His  journal  says :  "  Last 
night  Schneider  was  very  lame,  and  complained  of  rheumatic 


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